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Monday, December 26, 2016

A Quick Getaway To Kelapa-Harapan-Perak Islands

I've been to Harapan Island in Kepulauan Seribu Regency (read here, if you like), but it was for an official site visit, so when Windy, a journo friend, told me of her plan to go island hopping to Harapan Island, I said, "Sure".

At first, we planned to use KM Sabuk Nusantara 46 Pelni boat as a mode of transport, because it's relatively cheaper (only Rp 15,000!). However, two days before our departure, the boat was docking for one month. Being two adventurous and frugal single ladies, we decided to take the boat from Kali Adem port, Muara Angke. Just for a comparison, the boat ticket in Marina port is around Rp 300,000, while ticket in Kali Adem port is a mere Rp 55,000. We are still curious about the Pelni boat, and we will try it one day.

To make the trip more exciting, Windy brought along her nephews, four of them. Two are the eight-year-old twin: Fahri and Farizi, and two others are tenth grader Anggit and his classmate Sultan. Wow. We looked like two single moms with our traveling companions. But again, there is nothing wrong about single moms... or single dads (What was I trying to say here? Never mind :P).

We met up at 7 a.m. at Kali Adem port. I took the first commuter line, which was supposed to arrive at my station at 5.12 a.m. but happened to be very late that fateful morning. Windy took a taxi, and she arrived earlier at the port so she bought the tickets for all of us. I ordered Go-Jek ride from Kota to Kali Adem port (only Rp 12,000), but the roads were a bit flooded (as usual), so I had to hop off at a certain point and use a becak (tricycle) to reach the port.

It's December, but the wave was quite friendly. The boat ride to Harapan Island started at 7.30 a.m., and we arrived on Kelapa Island around 11 a.m. Oh wait, Kelapa Island, not Harapan Island? Yes, Kelapa and Harapan are connected by a walkway. Harapan is more touristy, Kelapa is more residential.

Since we had yet to book any accommodation (Yes, we are that adventurous. But, in my defense, it was work days, so the islands were quite deserted), we bought drinks at a nearby shop to get to know the locals and fished information about it. Long story short, we got a two-room homestay and a boat for the island hopping. Yay!